FanDuel holds back on digital card rips while rivals move ahead
Digital card ripping — a product where users pay for a randomly assigned trading card backed by a physical equivalent — is growing rapidly among gambling-adjacent companies, though it currently falls outside gambling regulation and taxation. Fanatics, Underdog, PrizePicks, and DraftKings-linked Rips by Triumph are among those already offering the product, while FanDuel has so far limited its involvement to experimenting with complimentary credits for frequent bettors redeemable on a third-party ripping platform. Flutter CEO Dan Taylor told Barron's that FanDuel is merely monitoring the space rather than building its own rips offering, even as Flutter's stock has dropped roughly 60% year-over-year amid investor concerns about the company's ability to adapt. FanDuel's cautious stance mirrors its delayed entry into prediction markets, where it now accounts for less than 1% of U.S. volume this NFL season, according to the report.
Why it matters
For service providers: The absence of regulatory oversight — including no random number generator audits or responsible gaming standards — creates reputational and legal risk for all platforms operating in this space.
For brands: Companies already offering card rips are gaining users and revenue in a largely unregulated market, while FanDuel's hesitancy may cost it market share in another fast-growing betting-adjacent category.
Read the full story at Sportico
Sources
- Sportico · Dan Bernstein: FanDuel’s Latest Crossroads: Digital Card Rips